Lying to Avoid Punishment: A Naruto Vignette
by Word Jester
Summary: She should have known that something was up the minute he ran into her family's shop, out of breath and searching for a place to hide because if there was one thing she knew about him it was that trouble followed him like a bad smell.


_**The truth about the truth; it hurts, so we lie: lying to avoid punishment **_

She should have known that something was up the minute he ran into her family's shop, out of breath and searching for a place to hide. His hair was frazzled and by the wild, panicked look in his blue gaze he had royally screwed up this time. When his gaze fell upon her he rushed forward, eyes pleading silently for help.

"Not this time, Naruto." Her words stopped him short. "You remember last time I helped you, right? The Hokage's suspension is still in effect." Green eyes glared into blue ones to get her point across, she would not waver on her position.

A loud roar of what sounded like the boy's name sounded a few shops down from the girl's own. The girl glanced in the direction of the shout before shifting back towards the anxious boy. "Sounds like someone is looking for you, it'd only be courteous to go greet them."

The boy gave the girl one last pleading look but when he was met with an unwavering glare he groaned loudly and rushed past her, towards the back of the shop.

The girl sighed loudly and turned to drag the boy from her wares but was stopped by the dinging of the front door, the signal of a prospective customer. She turned to greet them with a smile, intent on ridding her shop of Naruto after she saw to her customer. Her smile wavered only slightly when she saw that her customer was none other than Sakura Haruno, undoubtedly the person looking for Naruto.

"Where is he?" the pink haired girl growled. "I know you are hiding him." The look upon the kuniochi's face dared the dark haired girl to disagree.

The young shop owner was not intimidated by the other girl's dark look. She made a big gesture of looking around the small shop before settling her green gaze upon the glowering teen before her. "Well he isn't in here."

Sakura's glare darkened at the girl's words. "Well then you know where he is. I know, you know where he is!" She slammed her fist onto the counter and challenged the girl to deny it.

The shop owner briefly glanced down at her now damaged counter before looking the steaming girl in the eye once more. "As a matter a fact I do know where he is. He came in here earlier looking for a place to hide but I told him he couldn't find it here. If I know Naruto, which I do, he is headed to the Hokage's office; he's hoping that he will find mercy there."

Almost instantly, the dark look morphed into a sinister smile that showed all the gruesome things she had in mind for the poor blond. Sakura turned on her heels and headed for the door. She threw a grunt of thanks over her shoulder before throwing open the door and rushing down the street towards the Hokage's mansion.

A loud crashing noise brought the girl's attention towards her stockroom. She sighed loudly and reluctantly went to investigate. She wasn't surprised at what she found.

"Whatever you did to make her mad I suggest you lay low for a while; it doesn't look like she will be forgiving you any time soon."

The blond boy beamed in appreciation. He stumbled over the mess of boxes he had somehow knocked over in his haste to hug the dark haired girl. He was stopped short however when the girl placed a firm hand on his chest.

"The only reason I helped you out is because I saw what she did to my counter. I imagined that as your head and took pity on you; don't expect it to happen again." She leveled the boy with a look that said she meant her words. The boy smiled goofily and nodded his head eagerly.

"Thanks again, Kiwa! You're the greatest!" He ducked under her arm and enveloped her in a tight hug. He gave her one last smile before he moved to leave. However, he was stopped short by the girl's firm grip on his arm.

"Where do you think you're going? You have a stock room to clean up." The girl gave him a mocking smile before leaving him to his work.

The blond pouted as she resumed her spot at the counter. "Aw! Come on Kiwa!" His cries fell on deaf ears.

"You know I could just call Sakura back and tell her that I may have made a mistake." The smile she sent her friend could almost rival the pink haired kuniochi's.

Muttering under his breath, the boy turned to start on his work. It was just his luck to escape one punishment only to land in another one.


End file.
